“These are small vessels but they exist in such huge numbers that they can have a massive impact on ecosystems.”

Turtles living in the study area include leatherbacks (critically endangered in the east Pacific) and hawksbills (critically endangered worldwide).

Dr Joanna Alfaro, who obtained her PhD at Exeter and is now director of ProDelphinus, a conservation organisation in Peru, said: “This work highlights the importance and the benefits of our approach of engaging with fishers.

“We are actively working with fishers in this region to develop and implement solutions to bycatch – not just to improve the situation for turtles but for the health of fisheries and fish stocks.

“Our goal is to develop fisheries that are sustainable for small-scale fishing communities and the species with which they interact.”

Dr Jeffrey Mangel, also of the University of Exeter and ProDelphinus, added: “Gathering this survey data was a massive effort across three countries, and the results give us fascinating and important insights.

“We are careful not to overstate threats to wildlife, but in this case it’s clear that tens of thousands of turtles are being caught each year.”

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The southeastern Pacific sustains extensive fisheries that are important sources of food and employment for millions of people.

The study, supported by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative, was designed to fill data gaps and identify priority areas for future conservation work.

The paper, published in the journal Fisheries Research, is entitled: “Untangling the impacts of nets in the southeastern Pacific: Rapid assessment of marine turtle bycatch to set conservation priorities in small-scale fisheries.”

Country

Number of ports where surveys were carried out

Percentage of country’s ports surveyed

Number of fishers surveyed

Estimated annual bycatch of sea turtles (based on scaling up results to full fleets in surveyed ports)